


Seeking Stars

by ironhoshi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: BUT HERE WE ARE SOMEHOW, Boba is working at being king, Din would rather not be Mand'alor, Established Relationship, I worked on this, Just an idea that hit me and I decided you all needed to be subjected to, M/M, Mandalorian Competency Kink, Memories, Mentions of BD-1, Mentions of Nightsister Merrin, Okay a decent amount of angst now, Pining, Some angst, Sort Of Fluff, Time to go hunting, Trip Down Memory Lane, Work on my other WIPs? Nah, this was supposed to be one chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironhoshi/pseuds/ironhoshi
Summary: “Me,” he said in the best dismissive voice he could muster up. The picture in question was hanging on the wall so he could see it from where he sat at his desk. Fennec had teased him for exactly a minute, right up until she realized it was extremely important to him.“No, I mean next to you in the picture.” Din could be such a literal di’kut sometimes.
Relationships: Boba Fett/Cal Kestis, Din Djarin & Boba Fett
Comments: 35
Kudos: 323





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A simple conversation resulted in me wanting to write Cal annoying Boba by resting his arm on Boba's shoulder...cause Boba is shorter than Cal. What I wrote came out way different lol 
> 
> To all of you that I have yanked into this ship- ENJOY.

“Who’s that?” Din pointed at the faded and worn picture that was encased between two sheets of transparisteel. Boba glanced up from his datapad and frowned. Who had let the Mand’alor into his office? He had called for Mando to visit, but he hadn’t expected him to show up so soon. He was still working at dismantling a slavery ring in his new kingdom. Becoming the head honcho was easy enough, it was the behind the scenes stuff that wasn’t so easy. He had the experience, lots of it, but he also had the uphill battle of fighting the inflated rumors of his demise.

“Me,” he said in the best dismissive voice he could muster up. The picture in question was hanging on the wall so he could see it from where he sat at his desk. Fennec had teased him for exactly a minute, right up until she realized it was extremely important to him. 

“No, I mean next to you in the picture.” Din could be such a literal di’kut sometimes. 

Boba frowned deeply, scars pulling and puckering parts of his face as he debated answering that question. That had been so long ago, back when the Empire was still growing in power. He knew that picture well and had praised the spirits when he found it tucked safely away beneath the flooring of his ship. That picture was one of the few things he had to remind him that it hadn’t been some dream created by his mind to deal with the horrors of the galaxy. No, he had lived a different life once and that picture was the proof.

In the image frozen in time a much younger version of him stood with a scowl on his face, bucket under his arm. On his other side was a red-haired teenager, a little younger than him, grinning like a lunatic. They both bore smudges of dirt and ash and disheveled hair. The boy had an elbow resting on Boba’s shoulder and was leaning against him. In the hand of that arm was clutched a lightsaber, powered down, dangling just slightly over where his heart was. The other hand? Well, that was throwing up a universal symbol for victory. They both wore ponchos, though Boba’s matched his armor. The other one's? Some faded material that had a freedom fighter symbol on the back. One couldn’t see it in the picture, but Boba remembered. 

That jetii had fought against the Empire so hard and had really helped inspire hope. Boba liked to think that hope had helped grow the Rebellion, even if so many people didn’t know the guy’s name. When he looked at that picture he could still hear the smug tone that boy used when talking. He could see the colors ripping through the sky when he attacked. Kriff, he could still see that di’kut hurling himself off yet another cliff in a reckless maneuver.

_”That’s ten for me. You are falling behind,” Cal said with that annoying little smirk of his. That smirk always made Boba go crazy. Cal spun his lightsaber in his hand for good measure while a droid crumbled to the ground in smoldering pieces at his feet. Show off. Boba made a rude face at him underneath his helmet, torn between wanting to hit the di'kut and wanting to frip him senseless. Suddenly he found himself nearly jumping out of his own skin when green magick zapped him. How did Merrin always know when his thoughts went that way?_

_“Don’t get too cocky, kid. We still have to make it into that base and disable their long-range communications,” he said as dryly as possible. Best to just pretend the Nightsister hadn't gotten to him again. Merrin tsked loudly before vanishing into the shadows. He swore he heard her mutter something about men, but it could have just been his mind playing tricks on him._

_Merrin wasn’t a big fan of him, but she wasn’t exactly a fan of a lot of things. He wasn't exactly a big fan of hers, so it worked out. They worked together well and that was where it ended._

_BD trilled softly, wishing that they could also shadow hop. Cal grinned softly before fixing his gaze on Boba. The next words to leave his jetii's mouth were not exactly a comfort. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. I’m following the plan.” Boba had to bite his lower lip to stop a rebuttal from escaping him. Cal had awful plans and somehow managed to stay alive anyway. The jetii had the best karking luck in the galaxy. One of these days, he feared, it would finally run out. “Let’s get this over with so Saw and your mysterious contact stop worrying.”_

_And get it over with they did._

_Boba barely needed to waste any of his blaster clip when Merrin and Cal unleashed their skills. The Empire didn’t stand a chance. He walked behind the two and made sure to put a shot between the eyes of anyone left alive. No witnesses. He didn’t need Darth Vader learning that he was playing double agent or that it was a Jedi crippling various outposts. Vader had a temper, one Boba was going to avoid with all his skills. Cal hated when he got rid of the witnesses but had long since stopped speaking up. No, Cal just looked at him a haunted look and muttered something about war. War made them all do questionable things._

_Boba hated that haunted look and did his best to chase it away at night when they shared a bunk. He tried to give back all the warmth he stole from his jetii. When the Empire finally fell, and it would, he planned on keeping Cal warm for as long as he could._

_He'd make Cal smile with actual happiness._

“That…” He leaned back in his chair and let out a faint sigh. “Is the dumbest Jedi I have ever known.” The words were supposed to come out angry, scornful even, but instead, they curled in his mouth and came out coated in affection. Din’s helmet turned towards him and cocked to the side ever so faintly. Asking for more. Karking Mand’alors and their need to know more. “His name was Cal Kestis and he was one of the most wanted teenagers in the entire galaxy, vod.” 

“Was?” 

So they were going to do this it seemed. 

“We lost contact during a battle. He just vanished, not even his girl could locate him.” Merrin had accused Boba of horrible things that day. Screamed and raged. He had just held onto her while she beat her fists against his armor. It was supposed to be an easy fight, a way to stop the Empire’s foothold, and instead, it ended with one of the few Jedi left in the galaxy just gone. 

“Oh,” Din said softly. Storytime, it seemed, was over. “Why did you ask me here?” 

“I have a job for you,” he said simply. He could feel the stare from beneath the helmet his friend wore. “No puck to follow.”

Din shifted, stance cautious, and Boba knew he had his interest. The man was looking for a distraction.

“I want you to hunt down the Jedi in that picture. I have a few leads, people he used to run with- people he saved, and people he angered. I want to know what happened to Cal Kestis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 this should just be a one-shot. I have other WIPs...yeah. Ugh, this idea though-
> 
> Ahem.  
> Feel free to stop by and say hi, I like it when people say hi.  
> https://ironhoshi.tumblr.com/


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...there was a lot of screaming and begging and promises made. I have accepted the tears and yells. You've appeased me. 
> 
> The one-shot did not, in fact, stay a one-shot.

"I can bring you in hot or I can bring you in cold," he found himself saying. The first attempts at getting the target to listen hadn't exactly gone well. Din was positive if he pushed too hard then he'd find himself fighting for his life. They were on some Outer Rim planet, that was far to windy for his taste, and the chase had been anything but easy. He was low on fuel reserves, needed to stock up on rations, but he finally faced the one Boba wanted. At least he hoped he was- there was a high possibility. 

"So either I sleep in the same bed as you or I sleep in some carbonite?" Din stared and was suddenly thankful for his bucket. His cheeks were darkening with confusion. Was this person an idiot? Were they messing with him? The cocky tone screamed confidence and was leaving him feeling a tad off-balance. Why weren't they insulting him or making some sort of disparaging comment about him being a gun for hire? "Who knew Mandalorians had a type."

No. That wasn't-

What?

Just how many Mandalorians did this space wizard know?

And then came a smug little smirk. 

The slightly younger man gave him a mock salute. Din raised his hands quickly, to show he meant no harm, but it didn't matter. The person, who he was now positive was the target, simply stepped backward off the edge of the roof. What the- Boba was going to be furious! He rushed quickly to the edge of the roof, bracing himself for the sight of a mangled body below, but that wasn't what he saw. Nothing. He saw nothing. Din stared down at the empty alleyway and swore.

Yeah, he had found Boba's space wizard alright.

"Boba," he said into his comm the second it connected. "You didn't tell me he has a deathwish."

There was a crackling sort of silence before he was positive he heard a sigh. Resignation perhaps. He couldn't tell over the comms, plus Boba was hard to read at times. Sabacc face of durasteel. Man didn't need a helmet to mask his emotions.

"Sounds like you found him." 

"...he jumped off a roof. No body."

The silence, this time, was longer. Din stepped away from the edge and had the feeling this hunt had just gotten far harder. 

"Yeah, you found the di’kut alright. I can't send Fennec for backup, but… there is someone we can have help you, Alor. Give me a bit to track down your help.”

"Don't call me that," he said instantly without thinking. He was positive that Boba was laughing on the other end of the comm, but he wasn’t about to bring that up. He settled on just sighing loudly. This was a hunt that was going to take all of his skills. He had wanted a distraction, something to stop him from focusing on Grogu. Din frowned deeply while an idea formed in his head. Boba wanted him to find a space wizard and Skywalker seemed rather adept at tracking down space wizards… Yeah, that could work.

“And fine. You owe me extra, wire me some credits. Comm me when you are ready.” He didn’t even wait for Boba to respond before disconnecting the call. Now, how did he hunt down Skywalker and Grogu without those weird powers on his side? He rested his hands on his hips, fingers drumming nervously while he thought, and went over the list of possible sources he could contact.

“Darn,” he breathed out dejectedly. He was going to end up owing some people some favors. Well, hopefully, they wouldn’t realize he might have some sort of influence now.

_He was doing that stupid little lightsaber twirl again and Boba found himself unable to look away. There was just something about his jetii’s skill with a blade that did things to him. The fact that there was always this half-smirk that appeared on Cal’s lips before he decimated yet another droid didn’t help the feelings any._

_Blazing pink sliced through the air._

_Scorching remains clattered to the ground._

_“You shouldn’t be here,” Cal drawled out before kicking a piece of droid out of the way._

_“You didn’t check in-” Boba held his hands up to show he meant nothing by his visit when he was suddenly pinned with an unimpressed look. “You promised to comm, Kestis.” A snort and then the lightsaber was dying. Cal moved just enough to clip the hilt back into the holster._

_“I was going to...but-”_

_::We haven’t repaired it yet. Comm got obliterated.:: BD threw out cheerfully._

_Annoyance surged through him and he moved before he even thought. His hands gripped Cal’s shoulders, yanking to make his jetii face him fully. Were there new bruises or scars? The only bruising he saw, thankfully, were from lack of sleep. Cal clearly hadn't been taking care of himself. He was going to need to call Cere later, remind her that while Cal was a Jedi Knight he still needed to kriffing sleep. Merrin would probably be willing to force the di'kut to sleep if he sold his soul to her or something._

_“Boba, I’m fine! It was just a minor-”_

_::Major-::_

_“-brush with my least favorite person.”_

_The ground felt like it opened up beneath them. No! He hadn’t heard any talk from the Empire about getting that close. Had Vader gone rogue again? He had noticed the man had seemed more unhinged than normal during their last meeting. Boba knew Cal was a rather unhealthy obsession for the Dark Lord. His jetii always managed to just slip away, but there would come a time where that luck wore out._

_Luck always turned. Hadn’t the Clone Wars proven that?_

_“Boba.” The inflection given to his name curled around his mind like a bright orange hue. He sighed and loosened his grip._

_“They raised the bounty- alive. If I turned you in I could retire instantly.” The Empire or, more specifically, Darth Vader wanted Cal Kestis brought in breathing._

_“Huh, think keeping a low profile will help any?”_

_Boba snorted before he could stop himself. Cal Kestis keep a low profile? Yeah, like that would ever happen._

_::Cere mentioned Kashyyyk. Let’s go there for a bit!:: BD hopped up onto a fallen assault droid and did one of his weird little dances. Dancing on the dead. What a violent little thing- Boba was glad that BD was on their side honestly. That tiny hunk of bolts could wreak such havoc._

Fennec sat down on the edge of his desk and merely raised an eyebrow at his sour mood.

“He is having difficulties finding the target,” he explained calmly. 

“And what do you want me to do about that?” She leaned in front of him and snagged his bottle of brew. Boba leaned back in his chair as he debated just how to go about asking what he wanted. He didn’t want to send her, but they needed to be careful about just who they sent on this mission. Dathomir was not kind. 

He had a feeling the Nightsister he wanted if she was still alive, would not be welcoming of any strangers. 

“Find some of our old contacts, someone we can trust.”

Fennec paused in chugging the brew straight from the bottle and glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. She lowered the bottle slowly before wiping her mouth with the back of her free hand. “Sounds serious. You sending someone out to help Mando?” 

Boba shook his head. No, no he was sending someone to their possible death all because he had a promise to keep. 

“No, I’ve got something worse that needs to be done, kid.” Fennec raised the bottle in a sort of salute. 

"The things I do for you, boss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This draft has been sitting in my gdoc under "Seeking Idiots" for so long. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue, but here we are.   
> I hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cal stumbled in his steps, pressing a hand to his forehead. Pain and distress flashed, but not his. Someone else’s. Why did he keep hearing that voice in his head? Why was it so loud? 
> 
> **We still need you. I know you are out there.**
> 
> Who? Who knew he was awake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone keeps encouraging this...and throwing more angst onto it. 
> 
> Sorry, not sorry.
> 
> This takes place before and during the last chapter, fyi.

**Find me. Please.**

Fingers twitched. Something bubbled in his mind. Tugging, yanking him back from the endless nothingness.

 **I need teaching.**

There was a rotten flavor in his mouth. Something foreign.

**The Empire- please!**

Something screamed inside of him. He pushed. A fissure started on the tank and then it began to loudly spiderweb. Fingers twitched harder and then the horrible roaring sound filled his senses. Things were ripping away from him and then everything was blindly cold. He grunted in pain before spitting a rebreather of some sort free. Bacta- that was what he tasted, except it had a strange underlying flavor. Everything hurt and it almost felt like he couldn't quite get his eyes open. What was that wailing noise? A siren?

A strange rattling sound left his mouth when he tried to call for BD. That wasn't right. Cal managed to pull himself up into a seated position and focused on ripping bandages off from over his eyes. The sensation of the fiber against his flesh was not welcome.

"Bee….dee," he finally croaked out as the last of the bandage slammed into the floor next to him.

At some point in his hunt of the space the sirens stopped. The silence was more deafening than the sound had been. Shaky hands operated the small sonic he found. Wide eyes tried to take in the face reflected back at him in the mirror. Shaving only showed him a face he barely recognized. 

New scars. New lines. 

If he pressed a hand to his mouth would he fall into an echo? 

He found clothes that clearly belonged to the Empire, but they'd do. He'd find new ones later. Later, after he figured out what was going on. He needed to find BD.

It didn't take long to find the little droid.

His best friend was in parts, each placed in a container with what looked like clinical care. Nothing seemed to be damaged, thankfully. Cal reached out slowly and then violently closed his hand into a fist. The containers exploded one by one. BD was not meant to be like that- he needed to fix this. His gaze swept over the workstation. Ah, tools. Perfect. He paused as he saw the phrase Project Sparrow yet again. He would deal with that after. BD needed him now.

How had he even gotten here?

Teeth worried the inside of his cheek while he focused on repairing the one thing he could always count on.

_”Do you ever think about after the war,” he asked while he rolled his head slightly along the back of the copilot seat. Boba paused in plotting a course and cast him a confused look. Cal just smiled sheepishly. “I mean all we have ever known is a galaxy tearing itself apart, right? So what do we do after? What do we do after we win?”_

_Boba rested his hand on the navcom, gaze fixed on him with a strange intensity._

_What? It hadn’t been a weird question!_

_“We get a farm,” Boba finally said. Cal snorted with laughter and quickly smothered it with a cough when he realized the other wasn’t jesting. “My buir used to live on one...we could track it down. You, me, and that homicidal droid of yours.”_

_“Hey! BD is not-”_

_“That droid cackled while overriding a terminal a few days ago.”_

_Cal smirked. That had really helped actually. BD had flooded the room with an electrical current, making his trip through the compound way easier._

_“So this farm,” he prompted._

_A soft smile stayed on his lips while he listened to Boba describe what they could do after they finally won. It was a nice dream. The type of dream that he was willing to hope for. That smile only wavered a little when the uncertain thoughts began to bubble up. Would he be able to just set his weapon aside? There would always be people needing protection. Still, he sighed softly, it was still a nice dream._

_A farm. How peaceful._

They had somehow made it out of the Imperial building, even stumbled their way into an abandoned homestead, but he was left feeling so out of sorts. There had been no resistance, only questions. BD had greeted him with cheer and then had inquired as to whether or not he had been powered down for a bit as well. 

What had happened?

That had been weeks ago. Cal honestly had been shocked to find his lightsaber, in pieces, before he and BD escaped. The weapon, his life, was now repaired and he could see the beskar casing was scuffed. Someone had stripped the paint free while he was in whatever void he had been in. Why had they done something like that? 

He didn’t have the proper paint to undo the damage. 

Boba had always kept the paint secured-

**Please. My dad needs help-**

Cal stumbled in his steps, pressing a hand to his forehead. Pain and distress flashed, but not his. Someone else’s. Why did he keep hearing that voice in his head? Why was it so loud? 

**We still need you. I know you are out there.**

Who? Who knew he was awake? 

::Cal. We should rest. You need to recharge.:: 

“Yeah, thanks, buddy. We can make camp soon...and then figure out what to do next.” 

In the end, he stole a small ship to leave the strange planet behind. He didn’t know where he had awoken, but he just knew he had to find his family. Casting out with the Force really only gave him a major headache. Annoying and unwelcome. 

“What do you think? See if we can’t pick up some odd jobs to earn some credits? I can’t steal everything...and I don’t know how to get ahold of anyone. The comm codes aren’t working or they aren't accepting since they don't recognize this ship.” Cal spun around in the pilot’s seat slowly while staring up at the ceiling of the cockpit. How much time had passed while he was pretty much dead to the galaxy? 

::I vote we go to Bogano. You had a spare comm there. We can use that.::

Bogano. Yeah, that was a good start. 

“Done, but first we will land...here-” He pointed to a planet randomly on the display. “Get some better gear and some rations. We can sell some of the stuff on this ship. I want to get a datapad with an active link to the holonet. I have questions.”

BD chirped their agreement. With the plan in place, Cal punched in the new destination. Shame he hadn’t realized someone was hunting him. Well, even if he had, he still would have helped the villagers against the raiders. He would have, however, told them not to tell anyone about him. 

Maybe if he had he wouldn’t be backing away slowly from a Mandalorian he didn’t recognize. 

Maybe he wouldn’t be about to run again.

All he had wanted to do was get to Bogano and then work on hunting down his family one by one. 

His heart hurt. 

He had heard the jetpack and only stuck around long enough to see if it was Boba. The old code sequence hadn’t been answered no matter how many comms he sent from the stolen ship, and yet, his disappointment still swelled like the oceans of Zeffo. Churning and violent. The person in front of him was not Boba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao what is a one-shot? I am now up to 3 chapters.


End file.
